CORRECTED-GRAINS-Corn falls for the third straight session on planting expectations

(Corrects price of corn in paragraph 2 to $6.49-1/2 from
$7.53-3/4 in May 16 item)
SYDNEY, May 16 (Reuters) - U.S. corn futures fell for the
third consecutive session on Thursday as expectations that dryer
weather would allow Midwest farmers to accelerate planting
continued to weigh on prices.

FUNDAMENTALS
* Chicago Board Of Trade July corn fell 0.19 percent
to $6.49-1/2 a bushel, having slid 0.27 percent in the previous
session.
* July soybeans was little changed at $14.13 a bushel,
having closed down 0.1 percent on Wednesday.
* July wheat was nearly flat at $6.94 a bushel, after
dropping 2.32 percent on Wednesday under pressure from sluggish

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demand for U.S. wheat supplies.
* U.S. farmers are expected to make rapid progress in
planting corn this week as dry weather provides a window of
opportunity after wet and cold spring weather delayed seeding,
which was at an all-time low.
* U.S. Energy Information Administration showed U.S. ethanol
production in the latest week rose to 857,000 barrels per day, a
three-week high.
* Soybean futures were pressured by monthly data from the
National Oilseed Processors Association (NOPA) showing a
bigger-than-expected slowdown in the U.S. soybean crushing pace.

* An official Chinese think-tank forecasted that China, the
world's top soy buyer, would import a record 66 million tonnes
of the oilseed in 2013/14, up 11.9 percent from 2012/13.

* That figure was below the U.S. Agriculture Department's
latest forecast for Chinese imports at 69 million tonnes in
2013/14.

MARKET NEWS

* The euro declined to its lowest level against the dollar
in six weeks on Wednesday as data showing an unexpectedly large
contraction of the euro zone economy raised expectations for
more monetary easing by the European Central Bank.
* U.S. stocks rose on Wednesday, with the Dow and S&P 500
hitting new all-time highs in a broad market rally as the recent
upward momentum persisted.

DATA/EVENTS (GMT)
0200 China Foreign direct investment
0900 Euro zone Eurostat trade
1230 U.S. Building permits
1230 U.S. Housing starts
1230 U.S. CPI
1230 U.S. Weekly jobless claims
1400 U.S. Philly Fed business index

Grains prices at 0101 GMT
Contract Last Change Pct chg Two-day chg MA 30 RSI
CBOT wheat 694.00 0.25 +0.04% -2.36% 707.59 43
CBOT corn 649.50 -1.25 -0.19% -0.46% 636.18 37
CBOT soy 1413.00 0.25 +0.02% -0.12% 1373.96 35
CBOT rice $15.22 -$0.01 -0.07% -0.94% $15.46 52
WTI crude $94.26 -$0.04 -0.04% +0.05% $92.76 46
Currencies
Euro/dlr $1.288 $0.000 -0.04% -0.29%
USD/AUD 0.991 0.001 +0.11% +0.19%
Most active contracts
Wheat, corn and soy US cents/bushel. Rice: USD per hundredweight
RSI 14, exponential

(Reporting by Colin Packham; Editing by Tom Hogue and Paul
Tait)